Throne of the North.

Chapter 387: Victory, the Nobles’ Bounce Back
Ryan looked over his shoulder and started laughing to himself.

The defense of the Mithril Armor and the blessing of the Stag Shield fighting skill allowed him to withstand the strongest tearing force of the scimitar. His body was also incredibly strong, not only because of the Flame Dragon Knight breathing method and the giant dragon cub body brought by the Dragon Heart, but also because he had obtained so many spiritual blessings.

He was the first person to receive those blessings, and after having that spiritual blessing on the spiritual panel, Ryan gained the power of that blessing.

A blessing more powerful than any other blessing he had ever received, when he looked at his wound, the bleeding had stopped and the tingling power was repairing his body.

Coming back to his senses, Ryan looked at the two scimitars on the ground and picked them up.

"Unfortunately, you lost in equipment."

The mithril armor and the legendary sword have improved Ryan's combat effectiveness by more than one level, and the Crown of Heroes has put him on the same starting point as the opponent. Otherwise, it would be very troublesome to kill this guy.

The orcs were still attacking. Ryan thought that the death of the Sanctuary Chief would make them retreat, but he did not expect that the black goat men would rush up more crazily and bloodthirstily. Below, at the city gate, five black goat men who were comparable to golden knights had already broken open the gate and led thousands of black goat men to charge there.

Ryan did not go down, because when he took the time to take a look, the soldiers below did not retreat.

The corpses of humans and orcs piled up at the city gate, and these corpses actually became an obstacle to the advancement of the battle between the two sides.

However, neither side cared. They trampled on the corpses, climbed on top of them and slashed at each other. Maybe rushing in would mean victory, or maybe after closing the door again, the orcs would lose the strength to rush in a second time.

The Crown of Heroes had already consumed its power once in the final battle of the previous Kingdom War, and now it dimmed again. Ryan did not force it to activate, as the Sky Knights were strong enough to deal with the rest of the war.

The huge number of orcs was the biggest trouble the fortress faced. Fortunately, the fortress walls could help humans alleviate the problem. The war lasted for six hours before a large number of orcs began to retreat. However, they did not leave. They were just too tired to continue the attack.

On the fortress walls, human soldiers and knights were gasping for breath. Many of them didn't even dare to sit down. They knelt on the ground, tensed their thighs and calves, trying to recover the strength that had been squeezed out of their bodies.

Ryan didn't say anything passionate, but walked calmly on the fortress wall. His shining mithril armor was already stained with blood and filth, and the blood seemed to be stuck to his body and could not be washed off. The noble clothes inside were also soaked, and it was unclear whether it was blood or sweat.

At night, the orcs attacked again.

At this time, the corpses at the city gate had not been completely moved away, and the humans could not close the city gate. The orcs seemed to remember that they had captured the fortress because of the night attack, so they wanted to try to replicate it.

The shouting and killing sounds in the dark night were deafening, and it was the same for both humans and orcs. In the dark environment, fire could not illuminate everything. They could only rely on shouting to tell their companions around them that they were still alive, and listen to the roars of humans or orcs in their ears to judge the news of the enemy and companions.

In the midst of the bloodbath, any pre-war mobilization became meaningless, because no one could remember what Ryan had said. Staying alive and killing the orcs were the only things they could think about. Even fellow human soldiers would subconsciously attack each other if they got too close.

Willpower and faith are the only remaining strength that drives them to fight. When dawn arrives and the sunlight pierces the darkness of the sky, many people subconsciously squint their eyes and look at the dimly lit environment around them. Some feel lost, and then collapse on the ground as if they have survived a disaster.

"I'm not dead yet, don't pull me."

"Did we survive?"

"The orcs have retreated."

A clearly not rough voice responded to the soldier. The soldier opened his eyes and was surprised to see that it was Baron Ryan who answered him.

"My Lord Baron."

"Let's rest first."

Ryan took a look and found that this guy was lucky as he had no wounds on his body. So he raised his eyes again and looked into the distance. The orcs had already fled on a large scale. They seemed to have finally fallen into a panic state like the sage mode after the rage.

Ryan guessed that without the guidance of the orc leader, they would not attack here again.

The orcs only care about their next meal and do not know what operation means or what a long history means. They sleep soundly when encountering difficulties but rush to take advantage of good things.

Soldiers? Among the orcs, except for the orc warriors, the rest are just civilians, civilians in the orc civilization.

A large number of Black Goat Warriors died during the migration south a few years ago, so there are not many of them now.

"Now, it's your turn to take it."

……

After a day and a night of attack, even the chieftain of the Black Goat Men died in the war for the fortress. The remaining orcs were indeed terrified. The human fortress was not as easy to conquer as they had imagined.

The tall fortress walls were the hopeless line of defense for most orcs, and in the battle at the city gate, countless Black Goat Men died, and eventually the corpses became an obstacle to their charge, and they never actually set foot inside the fortress.

In the I-shaped fortress, human soldiers were able to find gaps in the building and sneak in, but the orcs didn't have that kind of brains. They had no other means except to act brute force. After failing, the orcs would also be frightened by the terrible deaths they had experienced before.

They rushed to the North Wind Province, and then realized that it was warmer here.

After a few hours, these orcs who had been fighting on the Xiangshan Plain not long ago had forgotten all their fears and worries and began to enjoy the fertile land around them and the food they could eat without opening their mouths.

The careless orcs began to harass the surrounding human territories. Killing them would provide them with a large amount of food. Faced with such benefits, the orcs were too lazy to care about the fortress in Xiangshan Plain.

Eat enough today and you won’t be hungry today. I’ll think about it tomorrow when I wake up.

These are the orcs. However, this is not a good thing for the surrounding noble territories.

The orcs did not dare to continue attacking the Xiangshan Plain, so they could only move towards the interior of the North Wind Province. Such a large number was an unimaginable disaster for the nobles.

"Damn orcs, that's my land, that's my food, my food!!!"

Standing in the castle, the Baron looked at the orcs wreaking havoc on the land and the village outside and roared in anger, but such anger could not drive away the orcs at all.

"Master, my son, your nephew is still outside."

There was a woman crying, and the noises in the castle were chaotic. The Baron wanted to send his knights to lead the soldiers to attack, but looking at those ferocious orcs, he was a little scared.

"Reinforcements, why haven't the reinforcements arrived yet?"

The noble asked loudly, but no one could answer his question. Only after a long time did a fragile voice sound.

"Father, the nobles' armies are all fighting against the orc legions. We only have two or three hundred orcs here. They won't come at all."

"Are we just going to watch my food being destroyed by the orcs? They are also killing my slaves, they are all my wealth!"

The Baron was furious, his body shaking.

"Sir, how about I lead the army to kill those damn orcs!"

The knight gritted his teeth and said that he followed the honor and creed of knights and became a glorious knight. Now looking at the tragic situation outside, he was also madly questioning his own heart.

"But, but there are too many orcs, and we only have thirty or so soldiers."

The Baron wanted to do so, but he didn't have enough soldiers.

"I believe your people have the courage to take up arms in order to reclaim your land."

The baron also reacted after hearing this and made a decision. "Let those damn peasants grab their weapons and rush out. Damn it, how dare they stay in my castle and eat and drink for free? It's not their land, so they don't care, right?"

"Tell them that if they don't kill those orcs, I will kill them!"

"Hurry up, kill those damn orcs, my food..."

Under the power of the nobles, a large number of serfs followed the soldiers and rushed out of the castle. Seeing the humans rushing towards them, the orcs also put down the wealth in their hands and rushed towards these humans with shouting and ferociousness.

I don’t know what to say about the casualty ratio, and when they saw the war break out, some villagers in the village took up weapons and attacked the orcs. In grief and anger, there will always be people who turn it into fighting power.

In desperate situations, there is resistance and war. The noble territories ravaged by orcs could not wait for the arrival of reinforcements, so they began to resist alone in their own territories.

Under such circumstances, the nobles were finally able to step out of the castle and make their voices heard in the noble circles. The territories that were caught in a tough battle asked the nobles from afar to support them quickly.

Their voices grew louder and louder, and their numbers increased. Nobles continued to die, and the pressure on those nobles far away became greater and greater.

Count Winter and Count Sauron also had to send a large number of troops. Their number of soldiers was not large. Training an extraordinary legion consumed a lot of wealth and resources. The soldiers could only be drawn from the farmers and slaves who needed to work.

These temporary soldiers inevitably fell into disadvantage when facing the orcs and were constantly killed, forcing the nobles to continue to increase their efforts and let the knights lead them in the war.

Every day in the four counties, the shouts and cries of killing between orcs and humans could be heard. For the sake of their own land and to prevent orcs from appearing in their land, the nobles became ruthless and used their own wealth to reward the soldiers. Of course, they made this decision because the hungry soldiers simply could not start a war with the orcs.

Of course, during the outbreak of the war, the nobles finally awakened the blood of glory in their bodies and were determined to kill all the orcs.

The orcs could not return to the north, as the terrible fortress blocked all their retreat routes, so they squeezed toward the south and entered the territories of the nobles. The nobles had no choice but to fight the orcs to the death unless they wanted their lands to be occupied, invaded and plundered, which would take years to recover.

On the Xiangshan Plain, the cavalry trampled on the snow, constantly killing orcs. As more and more orc corpses piled up here, those orcs who were hoping for a lucky break finally understood one thing, that is, the humans in the south were much easier to bully than the humans on the Xiangshan Plain.

They completely pounced on the noble leaders. The war between humans and orcs became fierce. Every human was a part of this war. As for the orcs, they didn't care about so many things. They would rush over when they saw humans and food. If they died, they died, and if they survived, they would eat.

Gradually, orcs no longer appeared on the Xiangshan Plain, and Ryan led his army back towards the Frozen Territory.

Before leaving, he wrote to some nobles, asking them to send troops to support the Xiangshan Plain Fortress. The garrison there now numbered less than a thousand, led by Lord Xiangshan bestowed by Ryan.

It is highly likely that the orcs will not launch a large-scale attack on the fortress again, but troops must be sent to support it just in case. As for what the nobles will choose... Ryan feels that if they don't want to face the current situation again, the nobles will not remain indifferent.

The nobles who have suffered from hardship and plunder will take this matter seriously. If there is a second chance, Ryan thinks it is not impossible to expand the territory of the Frozen Territory to the south.

When Ryan came, many nobles knew he was coming, but when he left, no noble could find his cavalry.

Lingdu City.

The atmosphere here was also tense. The nobles had begun to dispatch the 3,000 soldiers stationed here to the west to support the invading orcs, but under Ryan's will, only half of them went.

The Chamber of Commerce's team stayed here on a large scale. They did not dare to return to the south because their business was not completed. They also did not dare to enter the two kingdoms in the east as there were orc invasions there. Moreover, there was a possibility of orcs appearing at the location of North Wind Avenue.

It doesn't take too many. The appearance of a small group of Rhinoceros Beastmen is enough to cause these chambers of commerce to suffer heavy losses.

They were waiting for the end of the war, but Ryan summoned some Chamber of Commerce representatives in Lingdu City and told them one thing: the war with the orcs might not end in a short time.

"You have two choices. Either you write a letter to the nobles behind you and tell them that the situation here requires sending soldiers to protect the caravan, or you recruit guards from here. I think there should be people willing to take up arms as long as you pay them enough."

The Chambers of Commerce followed Ryan's advice, but the decision was not in their hands, so they wrote letters to the south to inquire about the choices of the nobles behind the Chambers of Commerce.

Ryan did not allow the soldiers of the nobles in Lingdu County to support the nobles in several western counties.

"Those nobles are also nobles, and I am also a noble. Instead of supporting them, I should support my frozen land territory."

Ryan said this, and the nobles hesitated, and finally sent a small army into the Frozen Territory for support.

The nobles on both sides always have to have an excuse to deal with the other side. If they support one side, they will be unable to support the other side. This reason is understandable. Their relationship with Ryan makes them not want to worry too much about this matter.

He led the army back to the Frozen Territory. During this period, no news from the Frozen Territory had been passed to Ryan in the Xiangshan Plain Fortress, which meant that the situation was not serious.

But things are not easy.

Werewolves were attacking humans crazily in the mountains and forests. The watchtowers, especially those on the northern periphery, had been occupied by werewolves. When Bogold sent armored bears and soldiers to retake them, they were attacked.

"The construction of the military fortress is slowly continuing. Mr. Rose is personally participating with the alchemists. But even so, the patrols of the Violent War Bear Legion are needed to ensure safety."

"Those people of Fenrir are very powerful. They hunted werewolves while building the fortress, but the losses were also great. Killing a werewolf also means the death of a hunter."

"Recently, the werewolves seem to have become more violent. They attacked Winter City at night again. A group of one to two thousand werewolves appeared around Rhinohorn Mountain. Lord Brand killed most of them and the remaining werewolves hid. Lord Brand said they did not leave."

"Master Brokk took some craftsmen to Winter City. He said it would take too long to transport the materials from here."

After listening to the news from the female official, Ryan came back to his senses. Compared with the troubles at the Xiangshan Plain Fortress, the problems in the frozen land territory were the real difficulties.

The walls of Winter City have stopped because of the military fort defense line. It is not a complete wall, so it is difficult to effectively block the werewolves. The military fort defense line is in its infancy. It is a huge pressure for all parties to build a fortress while defending against werewolves. The werewolves are very smart and know what humans are going to do, so they are hunting and blocking frantically.

Moreover, according to the news from the north, the number of werewolves... is increasing.

In the north, more werewolves led by the 'Gag' clan are invading this forest.

Ryan called for the butler.

“Do we have enough food?”

Beard hesitated, then nodded.

“It will last through the winter.”

Even when the orcs invaded, the Frozen Territory did not forget to open up terraces. However, compared to the increase in the population of the Frozen Territory, these terraces were obviously a drop in the bucket.

Moreover, the time required to gather food cannot be rushed.

"Place orders with those chambers of commerce. Our people will also do their best to buy food from the Northern Chamber of Commerce. We will buy as much food as we can get. As long as it's enough to feed us, we'll buy it."

Llane needed a lot of food because after giving the order, he had set off for Winter City to give spiritual blessings to Fenrir's people.

"Send people to buy those warehouses from the nobles in the Northern Wind Province and raise the price."

"Also, someone has to go hunting. The worlds of Gam and Fenrir are almost dying, and the beasts in them are just the right amount of meat to replenish our diet."

Warriors who were blessed to become apprentice knights would have an extreme need for food supplements during the first half month. Once they were blessed in large quantities, Ryan couldn't imagine how fast the food would be consumed.

(End of this chapter)